International : Microsoft acquires digital marketing firm aQuantive

In its bid to provide the advertising industry with an Internet-wide advertising platform, Microsoft has announced the acquisition of aQuantive, a digital marketing firm. The official company statement states that this acquisition will help Microsoft to enhance relationships with advertisers, agencies, and media owners/publishers by strengthening its advertising platforms and services.

It is also believed that the acquisition will also give Microsoft increased abilities in building and supporting next-generation advertising solutions, environments, and platforms such as cross-media planning, video-on-demand and IPTV.

“Today’s announcement represents the next step in the evolution of our ad network from our initial investment in MSN, to the broader Microsoft network including Xbox, Windows Live and Office, and now to the full capacity of the Internet. Microsoft is intensely committed to creating a thriving advertising business and partnering closely with all key constituencies in this industry to help maximise the digital advertising opportunity for all,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft.

Some of the benefits that might accrue due to this acquisition for advertisers and ad agencies are that they will benefit from the creation of a media planning, buying, and campaign management solution to drive maximum ROI and optimise their reach.

Meanwhile, media owners and publishers could gain access to digital marketing and measurement services, inventory optimisation and monetisation solutions across a full suite of rich media, video, and targetting capabilities via Avenue A | Razorfish, Atlas Publisher and DRIVEpm, which are a part of aQuantive Inc.